POLS 131 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: International Monetary Fund, World Bank
Document Summary
Ensure stability of the international financial system (keeping crashes from ever happening) Promote international monetary cooperation through a permanent institution (keep from manipulating currency) Facilitate the expansion and growth of international trade. Make resources available to members experiencing debt payment difficulties. Surveillance: research, statistics, forecasts, and analysis based on tracking of global, regional, and individual economics and markets. One of the best resources of economic data. Policy advice to governments and central banks based on analysis of economic trends and cross-country experiences. May be done politely or by nagging/shaming. Financial assistance: loans to help countries overcome economic difficulties (generally at market interest rate) Concessional loans to help fight poverty in developing countries. Technical assistance and training to help countries improve the management of their economies. Quotas: when a country joins the imf, they sign their contribution to the imf, and their percentage of their weighted vote. Brics is important in emerging economies: brazil, russia, india, china, south.
